6. Andrew Bynum, Cleveland (2 years, $24.8 million): Tremendous patience shown by Cavaliers GM Chris Grant, who didn’t bite on a deal for Bynum in the summer of 2012, which would have put them where the Philadelphia 76ers are right now. If the former All-Star’s knees remain balky, Grant can tap out in January at a total cost of $6 million or again next summer, nullifying the second year at $12.54 million. And if Bynum remains healthy enough to finagle the contract’s full value of out the Cavaliers, that means he played two years at a salary that was more than $4 million less than what he made last season, when he didn’t appear in a single game. When was the last time any team signed a better low risk-high reward deal with any player?
5. J.J. Redick, LA Clippers (4 years, $26.7 million): He has been a reserve for most of his career but figures to be elevated to starter. Redick is a huge upgrade over Chauncey Billups and Willie Green and will allow Jamal Crawford to remain in the role of sixth man. Throw out the 28-game aberration in Milwaukee; he has been a double-digit scorer and 40 percent arc shooter for four seasons. He also is much better at creating off the dribble and defending than given credit for.
4. Andrei Kirilenko, Brooklyn (2 years, $6.5 million): He and his agent dramatically overestimated the market, opting out of a $10 million season with Minnesota in search of a multiyear deal in the range of $8-10 million annually that never came. His loss became the Nets’ gain, as new coach Jason Kidd now has an athletic defender with length to sic on conference rivals Paul George, Luol Deng, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. Don’t be surprised if Kidd goes defense-offense with Kirilenko and Paul Pierce late in games.
3. Matt Barnes, LA Clippers (3 years, $10.2 million): Lost in the allure of Lob City is that the Clippers – aside from Chris Paul – are a bit caught up in the show and don’t often show the ability to grind out tough games. Barnes is a hard-nosed player who defends, knocks down open threes and gives the Clippers more grit than glitz. He is going to be a starter for just the second time in his career at a very nice number. And the Clippers hold an option on the third year.
2. Jarrett Jack, Cleveland (4 years, $25.2 million): You can argue that $6 million-plus per season is too 
much for a backup point guard, but Jack will be backing up both guard spots, much the way he did in Golden State last season. His versatility provides insurance for injury-prone Kyrie Irving and also will allow the All-Star to play off the ball at times. That duo figures to finish plenty of games for coach Mike Brown, who will often go to Jack’s experience, toughness and decision-making rather than rely on inconsistent Dion Waiters.
1. Dwight Howard, Houston (4 years, $87.8 million): After all the drama of the last two-plus years, he is still by far the best center in the league and a top-five player. Given the instruction he will get from franchise institution Hakeem Olajuwon and coach Kevin McHale, he only figures to get better offensively, where his post presence will provide more space for the half-dozen shooters GM Daryl Morey has to station around him. And in crunch time, his inability to make free throws will be mitigated by the ball being in James Harden’s hands. It is hard to imagine Houston not reaching the NBA Finals at least once during Howard’s deal.
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Chris Bernucca is the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Monday during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.
I assume your rankings are a combination of “players that will add to team wins” and also “bargain salaries”, but you don’t say if it is 50-50 weighting.
Do you also count players that re-signed with their same teams for bargain prices?
In that case, Andray Blatche should be near the top of list. Having watched every Nets game last season, he probably added at least 7-8 wins, over Nets taking a backup Center who was left on the market at this time last year (he was signed in September 2012). He re-signed for 2.8 million over 2 years using the non-Bird rights. He just celebrated his 27th birthday. He will likely opt out of 2nd year for an Early Bird contract of up to 25 million over 4 years. Because of his age, he may have more future value than Kirilenko. He allows the Nets once again to have the best Center combination in NBA and because he is also a natural PF, Nets can survive limited injuries to Lopez or KG on route to a championship run.
By same token Knicks re-signing KMart (Vet Min) and JR Smith (Early Bird) were also good signings, although KMart is due for more injury time, and JR needed surgeries and also has disease of the mouth.
Also, Houston re-signed Garcia for a 2 year Minimum, after declining his 6 million option year a couple of weeks earlier. Morey deserves credit.
I can’t consider Jack, Barnes or Redick that highly, for what teams paid for them. Howard is a franchise player, so I’m OK with his Max Salary, despite coming off injury.
Jerry,
Totally agree that Blatche, KMart and Cisco were good signings. Was trying to stay away from vetmin deals because they are almost always great bargains. Just think guys like Barnes, Jack etc. will provide a bit more.
I don’t think Smith was a good signing, especially since he took an eight-figure advance. For what? My guess is not to invest in the stock market. Thanks for reading. CB